The present invention relates to an injection syringe of the type including, on the one hand, an elongate syringe body comprising a tube and a front wall equipped with an injection needle, and, on the other hand, a rear actuating plunger mounted so as to be displaceable inside the tube.
Syringes of the abovementioned type are known which are used in particular for performing subcutaneous or intramuscular injections in the body of a patient.
The growth of diseases transmitted via the blood has led to the development of disposable syringes which are discarded after the injection has been completed. These syringes can be supplied either filled with the substance to be injected, or else empty, in which case the substance to be injected is pumped through the injection needle by means of the suction obtained on pulling the rear plunger.
The known syringes present a danger to the operator immediately after the withdrawal of the needle from the patient's body at the end of the injection. This is because the operator risks pricking himself or herself with the point of the needle and being contaminated by the residual traces of blood which it bears.
In order to limit the danger presented by the point of the needle, protective caps have been proposed which the operator fits onto the syringe body in order to cover the needle. However, given that the cap has to be put into position manually, the operator may forget to fit it, or else may be pricked by the needle when putting the cap into place. Moreover, the cap cannot be put into place at the same time as the needle is being withdrawn from the patient's body, and so the needle remains unprotected for a brief moment.